Peggy Li Creations Blog

FAQ: How Do I Remove Tarnish from Sterling Silver Jewelry?

Saturday, June 16, 2007

I've got tons of sterling silver supplies that I use for my handmade jewelry business, Peggy Li Creations. Every now and then, there is a batch that has "turned" a brown or black -- this is a natural oxidation that occurs with sterling silver. It can be a pain to remove with a polishing cloth, but I just tried the greatest trick to removing tarnish from sterling silver! And it WORKS!

Note: If you have silver items that have oxidized details (black background with raised polished accents), or sayings stamped into your metal, this technique may remove that background contrast. If you just want the raised area cleaned, use a polishing cloth.

1) Put a piece of the aluminum foil at the bottom of your dish. Place your silver pieces so they are in contact with the foil.

2) Put a few tablespoons of baking soda in the dish.

3) Heat your water to almost boiling (but boiling is not necessary) and pour over just enough to cover the pieces.

4) The mixture of baking soda, hot water, and aluminum foil will cause a bubbling/foaming chemical reaction. Swirl your items in the mixture or let soak for tougher tarnish. I took a video of this process here (look closely and see the silver brighten as the water clears at about :30 seconds in!):

5) Voila! You may even smell a little sulphur "rotten egg" smell as the reaction takes place. Rinse and the silver pieces should be clean and shiny once again! If heavily tarnished, try a few additional applications of soda and hot water, or maybe a fresh piece of foil.

What's happening? It's a basic chemical reaction that binds the aluminum to the sulfur oxides (you might see yellow flakes at the bottom of the dish) that the heat and contact with the aluminum foil accelerate. For all the cool science-y details, click here.

The chem-E in me loves it. Works great on chains. If you want to clean silver jewelry with stones or pearls, definitely keep the stones/pearls out of the water (the heat may change color, take away shine, or crack your gems!).

Nice to see you aren't the only one who knows about this. I also use this method and have it posted on my Jewelry Making site at About.com. It works great if your jewelry is not plated, and of course, make sure you rinse off the salt well. It really is amazing how black the foil gets.

Ooh, yes, if you have oxidation detail, it will remove that from your rings. In that case, I would use a polishing cloth (like Sunshine) that is for sterling silver. That way you polish only the raised surface, leaving the oxidized detail behind. Feel free to email me if you have any questions or would like that detail back!Peggy

Just did this to all of my earrings! Thank you so much for this tip! Many of my earrings I thought needed to be thrown away because they were so bad but couldn't get myself to do it. One question though. I have a piece that has a saying on it that is etched in and was black. When I cleaned it this way it took the black off. Any way to get the black back? I'm guessing no...

Awesome tip! Thank you so much! One question though. I have a piece that had black wording etched into it. Now that I've cleaned it the black is gone. Any way to get that black back? I'm guessing no...

Tammy,The piece will probably re-age and those letters will darken again over time. In the meantime, you can fake it by running a black sharpie over the letters and quickly wiping away the excess.best,Peggy

Hi Catherine - maybe! Sometimes it takes a few applications and a fresh piece of foil to get a heavily tarnished piece clean. If you can get it mostly clean with a polishing cloth (a cloth like Sunshine polishing cloth has micro abrasives in it to help clean) that can help before dunking. Most silver jewelry should have a hallmark, a stamped ".925" to indicate it is sterling. Good luck!

I have two sterling silver rings that turned to a copper color when I was doing my dishes in water that has an odor to it. This was the first time I did the dishes in this water. I have done dishes many of times in my ex room mates sink and they have never turned at all. Could it be something with my water that caused it to turn my rings that color. We have been told we have bad water and the smell proves it.

I almost just freaked out. My World Championship cheerleading ring was BROWN and BLACK after helping perm someone's hair. i dropped the ring in hot water and scrubbed it with baking powder. Good as new! Thank you!!

Hi Kristin,I think it would be fine - don't need to use boiling water, just hot should do the trick. You don't want to shock any stones with boiling hot water (could crack or discolor, depending on the stones).

For fine jewelry, it's always best to take it to a professional cleaner. Most jewelry stores will prob clean your ring for free!

Hi Peggy, would this method work to remove some intentional oxidation from a bronze piece so more of the shiny coppery color would show? The piece is solid bronze and beautiful - I just wish it were a little brighter. Thanks, Rose

Taylor, I haven't tried it on bronze, but I don't think it should be a problem - It might be better, however, to use a silver polishing cloth and tackle just the silver parts. I love Sunshine Polishing cloths for sterling silver tarnish removal:

hi i have a question if for example i have pandora rings and they both obviously have the crystals and i don't wanna keep going back to pandora to clean them all the time , is there a way that they can be cleaned as well as the chains themselves? i tried it and it worked so well i was just wondering if there's a way to clean silver jewelry w crystals

Hi, I don't have experience with Pandora products, but if they are sterling silver, this technique should work. I would not use boiling, just hot, water, and rinse very well before drying. You of course can do just the chain, or test with crystals in a corner before trying on all pieces to test it.

Hi Tia!This process will not plate silver on your stone, what I would be careful of is not using water that is too hot. Warm water should be sufficient for this to work. If you have concerns about the stone, however, I would take it to your local jewelers for a professional cleaning! Many won't charge for this service! It would help if you also knew what the stone is?

Last night I was bleaching my hair & 4 whatever dumb reason I didn't wear my gloves. Later on I looked down & my silver wedding band was grayish black r half of it was, I was devasted😔 I have never taken it off 2 clean r anything & nothing ever happened,till last night.I googled 2day & run across this,so I tried it & I'm so happy!!! It worked!!!! Even the diamonds r shining ☺ thank u!!!